How your tea party group got added to the IRS’ ‘Be On the Look Out’ list

This screen shot is taken from an official review of the Internal Revenue Service's practices for determining which groups were eligible for tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012.

The report, written by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and obtained by Yahoo News on Tuesday, details missteps the IRS took in targeting certain political groups for additional scrutiny.

The audit confirms previous reports that the IRS flagged applications from organizations that used words like "tea party" and "patriots" in their title. Even groups that said they wanted to advocate for making "America a better place to live" were placed on a "Be On the Look Out," or BOLO, list.

In May 2010, the Determinations Unit began developing a spreadsheet that would become known as the “Be On the Look Out” listing (hereafter referred to as the BOLO listing), which included the emerging issue of Tea Party applications. In June 2010, the Determinations Unit began training its specialists on issues to be aware of, including Tea Party cases. By July 2010, Determinations Unit management stated that it had requested its specialists to be on the lookout for Tea Party applications.

In "many" cases, the report said, organizations put on the list had to wait more than two years to receive notice from the IRS on the status of their applications.